A Milwaukee woman is charged with four counts of causing injury after police said she threw hot grits onto a woman and her children.

Leah Corney, 40, is charged with reckless injury and abuse of a child. She could face more than 70 years in prison if convicted.

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The homeowner said the woman and her two children had been staying with her for about a month. Corney was invited to stay the night on Oct. 3

The homeowner told police that she was awoken on Oct. 4 to the sound of the mother screaming. She then told police she saw the mother applying cold water to a 6-month-old child.

The mother told police she had gotten into an argument with Corney in the afternoon of Oct. 3. Police were called to the home after the argument became physical, but officers left when the mother believed things had settled down.

Around 1 a.m., the mother said she put the children to bed and laid down near them. She told investigators that as she fell asleep, she felt a burning sensation.

She told police she saw Corney running from the room and discovered that she and her children had been covered with scalding-hot grits.

Officers noted severe blisters on the mother, and doctors said the child had deep burns across 40 percent of their body. Doctors said the burns were "life-altering" and would be "permanently disfiguring."

The second child was covered by blankets and did not have serious burns.